Judul : Neighborhood Health Clinic Fort Wayne
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Neighborhood Health Clinic Fort Wayne
>> sheri: hello. it's a pleasure to see allof you here this evening. thank you for coming out. i know that sometimes this time of daycan be difficult for people. our intention is that you can come and have an opportunityto meet with some of the candidates that are running here in northeast indiana for theindiana general assembly. it gives you a chance to see the difference in how these candidatesstand on various issues, disability related
Neighborhood Health Clinic Fort Wayne, issues, as you well know. we have some crossoverissues with other organizations, as well. but i want to thank all the candidates thatare here for coming this evening and giving us the honor to meet with you.we do know that we have several other candidates that will be kind of coming in. they're comingfrom a distance for one reason or another.
and they'll be coming in a little later, sowe may see some other people fill out the table as the time goes on. but we need toget started. i want to introduce you to doug schmidt. whereare you, douglas? he is the moderator for the event tonight. he will talk to you aboutthe process of the forum. and then one other introduction, david, pleasestand up? david is the current chair of neidac, northeast indiana disability advocacy coalition.if you look at all the organizations on the back, all of these organizations are professionalpeople that know a lot about disability issues. keep this as a resource because you, as electedofficials, are going to want to know these people and talk to them. they'll be able tohelp you with the kind of questions you might
have about disability issues.and, again, thank you for coming. did i introduce you, david?>> david: yes. >> sheri: current chair of neidac. thank youfor all of you and i'll turn it over to doug now.[applause.] >> doug: good evening, everyone. thank youfor coming out. and welcome to the forum. i'd like to start off by thanking all of thecandidates for taking time out of your very, very busy schedules to come on out and speakwith us. so, first, each candidate will have three minutes to make a personal statementabout themselves and their ideology or your favorite food, whatever you want to talk about.[laughter]
and after each candidate has made their personalstatement, we'll proceed to questions. we have a number of questions that have beensubmitted to us, as sheri mentioned, by the northeast indiana disability advocacy coalitionnortheast indiana disability organizations, we have questions about transit, accessibility.(piano or music in the next room) special education.[music.] that's in the other room. that's not me. wehave questions about special education, transit and other important disability issues. eachcandidate will take turns answering questions in the order of their district numbers. ifdon't know your district number, don't worry, i'll call on you.so i will draw a random question from the
fish bowl here and ask each candidate. they'llgive their answer and move on to the next candidate for the new question. each candidatewill have a maximum of two minutes to answer a question. orland here in the front row willbe our timekeeper. i'll raise my hand when you have 30 seconds left. all right. let'sget started. (party in the next room)15th district, jack morris, personal statement, please.>> jack morris: hi, i'm jack morris. i'm a democratic candidate for indiana state senate.i'm pretty much a life long resident of fort wayne. my family moved here when i was three.i lived in those little duplexes out on the south hampton, if you know them. my dad hada gas station there hampton, mckinney. grew
up through the local school system. graduatedfrom southside high school. went on to college. quit initially and went into brick tending.got back in college just to play baseball. then got inspired by a history teacher ata junior college, and that motivated me to actually begin pursuing education and thenwent on to law school, graduated from law school and after eight months in indianapolisarea i moved my practice here to fort wayne and i've remained since.i grew up in district 15. my office has always been in district 15. and i've lived in district15 other than a very short time when they had different boundaries. but it's importantfor me to want to serve fort wayne, but this group particularly.as an attorney, i've had the blessed opportunity
to serve the disabled community in a varietyof different ways. as a product of being involved in those in a variety of different ways, iwas approved by the dada coalition quite a few years ago when the city of fort waynewasn't being very responsive with curb ramps. and i was asked if i'd be willing to pursuea claim against them under the ada. and we did. we brought a suit in federal court againstthe city of fort wayne. and we were able to get them to begin the process of bringingthem into compliance. we entered into an agreement process by which they were to do that. andi believe the city's proceeding to do that in a much better way. not all of them areperfect, but they're much better. i've had a chance in many other situationsto help out with other people within the disabled
community. it's always my philosophy thatwe try to include all people in all ways possible. the more people we can involve in our community,the better we all are. and my practice has carried that forward. and hopefully i canshare some of those thoughts with you tonight. and i'd love the opportunity to be able toadvocate for you down at the statehouse. thank you.[applause.] >> doug: and liz brown, personal statement,please. >> liz brown: thank you for having us tonight.i had the pleasure just before the primary. nice to be back here. my name is liz brown,i am republican candidate for state senate district 15. and my husband and i moved hereover almost 25 years and raised our seven
children here. and i used to be on the citycouncil. before that, i actually mostly did a heck ofa lot of volunteer work in the community and with my children's schools. but i sort of dipped my toe into politics when our youngestwas starting high school and i was going to have a little more free time on my hands.so that's how i've gotten involved. and since then, i've been interested in gettingmore involved even at the state level in terms of making sure that the state of indiana hasthe best education system we can provide and i would be a leader in the country. i thinkwe're heading in that direction, but we have some improvements to make.i also want to make sure that economically
we have a sound fiscal policy and a budgetthat we can afford. some of our neighboring states, as you might know, are not in sucha positive balance sheet as we do. and then, finally, workforce development,which i think from some of your questions we're going to be answering tonight. someof you interested in that. that just doesn't mean higher education, but how can we giveall of our individuals who are looking for work, how can we provide the skills that theyneed to fit the jobs that we have right now? so thanks very much. i look forward to answeringsome questions. [applause.]>> doug: thank you. and now 52nd district, charlie odier, please.>> charlie odier: hello, everybody. my name
is charlie odier, i'm chairman of the democrats,i'm 3rd district, of the united steelworkers. i've lived in fort wayne most of my life.the thing i do is i'm involved. i'm involved with toys for tots, socks for seniors, i rana charity out of woodburn called caring and sharing where we help patients with theirbills get back and forth to indianapolis for their treatments.i'm a pure advocate for giving back because that's what the people of the state have todo. we need a voice for everybody to make fair and equal to every person in the state.some people just don't get and i'd like to be the person who goes to the statehouse andputs forward the things that we need to get done. thank you all.>> doug: thank you.
[applause.]it's "oh dear." i got that i think wrong. i'm sure you heard that joke for years.>> charlie odier: "oh dear, i think i forgot your name."[laughter] >> doug: now 82nd district, representativedavid ober. is that right, ober? >> david ober: that's correct. thanks. it'sgreat to be with you this evening to hopefully answer your questions and hear some of yourconcerns as we move into the election season and into next session hopefully. my name isdavid ober. i am the current state representative for district 82, which includes all of noblecounty and portions of northwest allen, cherabusco lagrange and county, four other counties innortheast indiana.
i grew up in noble county, went to centralnoble high school. i'm a purdue graduate. and really just during my time in college,that i fell in love with politics and policy and how do we make indiana the best state,not just for job creation and business but also for the people who live here.i have a very strong voice throughout this state, but certainly with our northeast indianadelegation. we have one of the strongest delegations in the statehouse simply because we have abunch of servant leaders who listen to those in this room, plus others in our region. soplease know that you are heard and that your concerns are very important to those of uswho are making policy and making those important decisions at the statehouse.i'm finishing my first term and looking to
start a second term. i serve on the employment,labor and pensions committee in the house as well as the house ways and means committee.and thank you again for the opportunity. and i look forward to having another conversationabout the issues tonight. >> doug: thank you.[applause.] >> doug: okay. again, i will be drawing questionsat random from the fish bowl. oh, i'm sorry. jack morris? no. fred. sorry. fred.>> fred haigh: my name is fred haigh. resident of fort wayne in the 84th district. my opponentis bob morris. my background, i was born in boston, the son of a methodist minister andthe grandson of a methodist minister. and my dad was a theological instructor at bostonuniversity. shortly after i was born, he became
the editor of the cooksbury methodist publishinghouse in nashville, and i spent the early part of my life in nashville, tennessee. towardsthe end of my student career, i ended up in iowa where my dad oversaw the hispanic andmigrant workers that came to pick tomatoes and harvest every year. i was good at musicsince i was a five year old and i ended up with a music scholarship, several collegesoffered that. i chose depauw university here in indiana, never had been here before. myeducational background is a bachelor's degree from depaw, a master's degree from st. francis,and educational administration degree from ipfw, and a doctorate from ball state universityin education. i also have experience as a teacher. i taught in the fort wayne communityschools 30 years and private schools in this
area for six years. i spent time at ball stateas an adjunct and one year at manchester university. i also have a family. my wife and i have beenmarried for about 30 years and we have seven children between us and 14 grandchildren.i love them all dearly. some of them are republicans, some are democrats.[laughter] i spent many years, the last 40 years in prayerwith my younger sister nancy who is disabled and lives in assisted living in cincinnati.i'm very familiar with some of the issues involved in that. i look forward to answeringyour questions later and appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight. thank you.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and representative phil, personal statement.
>> hi, everybody. sorry i'm a little late.but thank you for the introduction. i have books at the table. i may have to bug outa little bit early. i have another reception that i need to attend. but i remember comingto the event a couple years ago and i think maybe even four years ago i think jackie andi were here. so it's certainly one that i like to attend. and i appreciate you all forcoming out and attend and put the forum on for all of us.i was first elected in 2006. i'm seeking another term. i am unopposed. so for better or worse,you're stuck with me again for two years. but i'm more than happy to do all i can towork on the issues that are important to you. i think one thing that we do have to keepin mind here as we go forward in a budget
year, which is what the long session is comingup, we talked a little bit about this i think at the last forum that we had when we discussedbudget items, budget requests, things like that is: what's going to be the priority forour state? what things are going to make our top priorities? can't fund everything. weknow that. but on the other hand, when the state of indiana is sitting at a $2 billion,with a b, $2 billion surplus, we know that there are many needs for citizens in the stateof indiana. i think it's imperative that everyone who's ever elected really do the best theycan to make sure that those, frankly, that need it the most are made the no. 1 prioritythis time. too often focusing too much on tax cuts andthen we have this $2 billion surplus with
a b, and therefore some of the neediest ofthe hoosiers are being left behind. so i'm going to stick around for a few minutes ifyou don't mind, maybe answer some of your questions, and i will have to leave a littlebit early. but it's been a real pleasure to serve my citizens and the rest of the stateof indiana. looking forward to do it again for another two years. thank you.[applause.] >> doug: okay. that's everybody for sure thistime, right? okay, good. again, i'll be drawing questions at random from the fish bowl. andexcept for the 15th district, everybody, i'll move on new district, new question. if you'rein the same district as somebody else, you have to answer the same question. i hope thatmakes sense.
all right. and the first question goes tothe 15th district. and we'll have jack morris answer first. again, it's two minutes perquestion. i'll raise my hand when you have 30 seconds left.accessibility. the americans with disabilities act was signed into law in 1990. in 1997,the indiana senate instructed the indiana fire prevention and building safety commissionto ensure that the indiana building code was in compliance with the ada. the building codewas sent to the department of justice for ada certification. however, certificationwas denied because the code did not significantly address requiring disability accessibilitymeasures in the alteration, renovation or remodeling of existing buildings. in effect,businesses can do major alterations to an
existing building without being required bythe state to make the new business accessible to people with disabilities. this seems tobe a direct violation of the letter and the intent of the ada as well as the instructionsof the ada senate. now, here's the question: if you are elected,what would you do to ensure that businesses remodeling an existing structure are requiredto add disability accessibility as part of their plans?>> jack morris: well, i would support legislation that they require that they do so. you know,unfortunately there is still an avenue for people, but the avenue is to pursue in federalcourt under the ada. and that is cumbersome in that kind ofa situation. and, really, it's ineffective.
it's not the best way to pursue things when we have to litigate about them.but when we rebuild, we're involved in construction, it's the best time to do it. as we learnedwith the grants, it doesn't cost much more to build it the right way when you first doit than to go tear it up later. and so as we're doing restructuring in a building, aswe're spending the money on that structure, it's the best, most efficient time to makethe changes, and the ada does require it. and it is a bit offensive that indiana didn'thave the teeth in it necessary to comply because it's a disregard of the philosophy of theada that we want to make everything accessible to everyone as much as possible.there are some exceptions for impossibility
circumstances. those should be the exceptionand not the rule. so when we have the opportunity, when a building is being rehabbed, the stateof indiana should require that they meet the ada requirements. to me, that's a pretty straightforwardthing that we ought to do. >> doug: and liz brown, if you are elected,what will you do to ensure that businesses remodeling existing structures are requiredto add disability accessibility as part of their plans?>> liz brown: well, i think in the original question you stated that in '97 the stateasked the code, whatever that association you mentioned, department, to implement sufficientregulations that then the feds signed off on it. so i guess there's a couple of stepswe'd have to go through, right?
first of all, at the time are the regulationsthat were currently being promulgated by the government, are they the same today? becauseas we know, that doesn't always stay the same. that significant amount of time has passed,17 years. so i guess what i would want to do first is make sure that indiana state codeis actually just because it's different doesn't mean it's worse. it actually could be better.so i guess what i'd like to see is i'd like to see if the indiana state code today haschanged significantly, whether or not it matches what was there in '97 with the federal; andif it does, and if it's better, great. if it doesn't, then that's the issue we haveto look at. with respect to how we can address that ona local level, i know from my time on city
council that the metro board here is actuallya local avenue that citizens have to go through to address those kind of ada noncomplianceissues. so there is remedy available. and it's not something i'm also an attorney. ialso do not suggest that going to litigation first. but this is a service provided, fundedby your tax dollars to answer those kinds of inaccessibility issues.so as the state senator, i would want to make sure that we're in compliance with the law.but at the same time, there are avenues where we're fixing the law, you know, that willtake some time. but ultimately it sounds like the issue will be the executive branch followingthrough on that. and so there may be a carrot and stick issue to get them to comply. thanks.>> sheri: i want to make a comment on that.
the current indiana code is moot on the issueof reconstruction. as it relates to being in compliance, it's mute. there's nothingabout it at all. >> liz brown: thank you.>> doug: and the next question will be for charlie odier in 5th district. direct supportprofessionals. direct support professionals assist people with physical or intellectualdisabilities with the development of basic living and social skills and help them beintegrated into their communities. although the number of people seeking these servicesis growing, dsp wages have not significantly increased, making it difficult to attractand retain people in this vital position. in 2007, indiana launched an innovative workforcedevelopment program, the direct support professionals
project. through this project, dsps receivedopportunities to advance their skills and earnings through certification at ivy techcommunity college and other venues. unfortunately, this project was eliminated in 2012 due tobudget cuts. and the question is: if elected, would you support refunding the direct supportprofessionals project? if not, how would you address the need for more dsps?>> charlie odier: i would definitely move to put it back in place. these are thingsi my brother was born with cerebral palsy. he had half of his brain removed in the 60s.back in those times, it was unbelievable the things they went through. my parents couldhave put him in a home and they didn't because they were not going to do that. it was nevergoing to happen. i've seen firsthand how somebody
coming in and helping and day to day operationcould help somebody stay at home. we need more in home care. we need the possibilitiesof for these jobs to pay enough that people would want to do them. people can't live onthe minimum wage. these are jobs that people do out of their heart. i mean, they care aboutpeople. that's the reason they do it. you have to give them incentive to do that. youhave to give them a reason. this world is just getting so crazy with peoplechasing money and chasing money and chasing money. here we have a $2 billion surplus andwe can't get the basic needs of people who need it the most? what's wrong? what's wrongwith this state? we've got a second board of education we don't need. we're spendingmillions of dollars on that board. we don't
need it. we could put that money to work ateveryday projects for everyday people. and that's the things we need to get addressed.that's what we need to do. and the next question will be for representativephil g. on employment. in july 2014, nearly 70% of the general population was part ofthe labor force, either working or actively looking for work. however, only 19.4% of peoplewith disabilities were in the labor force. this means that not only are people with disabilitiesmore likely to be unemployed, they are also more likely to be discouraged workers, longterm unemployed who become discouraged and give up actively searching for jobs.so the question is: what can state governments do to reduce this disparity? if elected, howwould you encourage people with disabilities
to look for work and how would you createopportunities for employment for people with disabilities?>> phil g: thank you. i think we just need to be diligent, do all that we can to workwith the agencies, particularly those that are here in the room. for example, i workfor city utilities, and we are in the process of implementing a new billing system, hopefullyhave it up and running her the next six, eight months. but part of that process is the printingand stuffing and putting the addresses on the bills so we can bill them out.of course, we know great postmasters is working with services who do a great job with that.that's one idea that, for example, where i'm working city utilities, they could spreadthe word about some of the good folks that
do these sorts of things and really just bevigilant about it. i think that would help. but i think more importantly is to, if wein government can work with the private sector a little bit more, talk with them, talk ofthe different programs that are out there that do exist and encourage them to work withfolks that need employment so as you mentioned about 19%, let's raise that a little bit higher.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and the next question will be for representative david ober, 82nd district. and this questionis on "complete streets" guidelines. "complete streets" are roadways designed and operatedto enable safe access for all users, not just motorists. a "complete streets" policy ensurestransportation planners and engineers consistently
plan, design, operate and maintain the entireroadway with all users in mind, including bicyclists, public transportation vehiclesand riders and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. there have been several attemptsto adopt "complete streets" guidelines in indiana, but the bills have not passed.so the question is: if elected, would you support adopting "complete streets" guidelinesin indiana? >> rep. ober: thank you for the question.as we know, infrastructure is not just an economic issue; it's also a quality of lifeissue. when you look at growing communities, you can see that they put a lot of emphasisinto their street projects, and part of the quality of life has been expanding walkingpaths. we see that here in fort wayne and
up northeast where i'm from. we also see alot more bike trails being implemented into our sidewalks here in fort wayne as well aswhen we go down to indianapolis, they have very vibrant system.so i'm very aware of the importance of that and how we empower local mayors and city councilsto be able to complete these programs and do it in a responsible manner that is nottoo costly for their taxpayers. as far as implementing these kinds of guidelinesinto future planning for these projects, i would want to make sure that we take a verysmart look at it so that if it's a voluntary program for individual communities, whetherthere's grants made available to those communities who want to do this. and that there wouldbe strict guidelines attached to those dollars.
that's the kind of approach that i would takewith this kind of program, to provide some government monies for these infrastructureprojects in the form of community development block grants and that there would be somestrings attached to how they use those dollars. thank you.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and the next question is for fred haigh, 84th district. and this question is on disabilityadvocacy. disability stakeholders in northeast indiana work together to find the best andmost cost effective solutions to provide for the long term health and welfare of peoplewith disabilities. it is our expectation that we will work with our legislators to the sameend.
so the question is: if elected, how wouldyou work with disability advocacy groups and individual disability advocates to assurefull inclusion for people with disabilities? >> fred haigh: i like to think of myself asa servant leader. i spent years in nonprofit organizations either being president or onboards and served as the president of the fort wayne education association, also onthe executive board of the indiana state teachers' association and for seven years on leadershipcommittees at the national education association level. all of those issues which i championedinvolved and were part of my passion for education and my passion for each individual, no mattertheir status in life. i would be an advocate because i'm willingto listen. a lot of people find themselves
in a position in which they begin to not listen.they begin to shut off the people that they represent. i have found that to be true insome of the issues that are going on at the state level as a teacher, an advocate forpublic education. i've been very disturbed with the lack of enthusiasm for public schoolinghere in indiana. and i would be very willing to talk to anybody about disability advocacyand support on any issue that they would like to have supported.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and we're going back to the 15th district. this question will be for jack morris first.and the topic is medicaid waivers. currently, over 8,000 people are on the waiting listfor medicaid waiver services in indiana. and
the question is: would you support increasingfunding for medicaid waiver services? and are there other areas of government spendingyou would consider to free up for medicaid waiver services?>> jack morris: it is one of the questions that's a real allocation of resources. i'vehad a few clients that had been on long waiting lists to get on the waiver of medicaid. itis extremely harmful to them and their family life to have to wait for that. it's a shamewhen we cut those kind of services where you can't get that process in a timely manner.and so that is an area we would need to use funding for.now, when you talk about making room for it elsewhere, the reality is so often we spendmoney on the symptoms and the problems, but
we don't spend it on the thing that will stophaving a lot of those problems. and this is one of those areas. when we don't invest inthe caseworkers to help assist the process of getting through these programs, we endup having the individuals who should be benefiting actually having a lot more problems becausethey're not getting the assistance they need. and therefore we end up having more expensivesituations. truthfully this is one of the fundamentalproblems of our government as it goes, is that we fail to look at how do we preventthe problem from developing in the first place? instead of all the money we spend on the problem.and a lot of that, when we deal with the people with disabilities and the advocacy groups,if we would be more aggressive on dealing
with those issues before they spring up moredeeply, we would actually save money in the process. and the medicaid waiver would bea place that we would actually save money if we process them quicker.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]>> doug: and liz brown. >> liz brown: i guess i'd want to know firstwhy the 8,000 people who are on the medicaid waiver list are on the list. are they waiting?there is not funding to process them? or is the system itself inefficient? i mean, i thinkwe've all experienced inefficiencies in government. and certainly if that's the case, if it'sa bureaucracy that's not responsive, then i think we can do something about that.but if it's not that, if it's a funding issue,
then we do need to look at that, but i'd alsowant to then open up the door, so to speak, and look at the people who are currently on.we saw in this current economic crisis in 2007 a lot of and i can attest because myhusband, a lot of able bodied young people got on disability because they didn't havea job and unfortunately they're probably not going to get off any time soon.so i'd like to make sure that the people who are on are not taking the spots of those whoare actually deserving of that first. that may not be a huge number, but may free upsignificant dollars, but let's make always sure that we make sure that the system isworking well before we throw more money at it and think we can solve it as a way of fixingthe problem.
and the next question is for charles odier.and the topic is autism. the indiana autism mandate requires medically necessary servicesfor autism treatment and does not allow insurers to impose an age limit on treatment. however,many families with children with autism struggle to get coverage or to keep it once they haveit. so the question is: if elected, are there steps you would take to help families of peoplewith autism to get the help they need? >> charlie odier: i have friends of mine whohave children with autism who drive a long way to get services for his children. thisis one of those questions that is really, really hard. we know it is a growing problemat an astonishing rate. the real answer is i'm not sure. i would have to dig in and findout where we go and how we get there because
i'm just going to tell you the truth, thething is so out of control and it's so lost, and there's nobody, nobody really advocatingfor them on an everyday basis. i know there's foundations out there and there's some groupsout there, but they're so far and few between that there's not really a group to spearheadit. and until we get something like that, i just really don't know what we could do.i would love to have a group show me where to go. i would want to listen. i would wantto hear and get your ideas about where we need to go with it, because that's an areathat i'm not real familiar with and i'm going to tell you that.there's got to be a way to address one of the fastest growing issues in this country.and we've got to bring people together to
do it. and who those people are, it's theparents. we've got to get a group of parents who are willing to fight. we've got to getthem together. we've got to give them one voice and we've got to make them loud. thankyou. and the next question is for representativephil g. 80th district. and the topic is gas tax. indiana taxes gasoline at 18 cents pergallon, a rate set in 2003 and is 5 cents below the national average. in the years sincethen, the price of virtually everything is increased, from road construction to publictransportation. public transit systems are vital to people with disabilities, but manyare struggling to keep open their doors. so the question is: would you support increasingindiana's gasoline tax rate to keep pace with
inflation? if not, do you have other plansfor funding public transportation? >> phil g: thanks for the question. i'm certainlyopen to considering that and listening to the discussion. i forget what the exact increasein the revenue, even a penny or two, would bring in. it's quite a bit. but i certainlywould consider that. it's interesting because you're absolutelycorrect. times are changing. i mean, we're looking at greener cars, if you will, thatare out there and more cars getting more miles to the gallon, things like that. so it's definitelyput some strain on our funding from the gas tax with regards to mass transit. we've hadquite a bit of debate regarding this, regarding mass transit. i think it's something we allwant to do or most are in favor of. how we
fund it is really the key.we're making these little baby steps, particularly around the marion county area. but certainlywe all want folks to have a job and be able to work, they certainly have to be able toget to their job. so it's going to be important that public transit is well funded. and i'mcertainly interested to take a look and kind of weigh the pluses and the minuses of raisingthe gas tax and what effect that would have on the state revenue. i wish i knew the number.i can't even remember raising it a penny, but i'm certainly open to that.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and the next question is for representative david ober. and the topic is: veterans' disabilityclaims. a new law created a legal clinic program
benefiting indiana veterans. indiana law schoolscan create clinics where law students can help guide veterans through the disabilityclaims process. in addition to helping veterans with disabilities, the law will help studentsgain experience in veterans' affairs issues. currently, the program will be funded by donationsand sponsorships. in 2015, the indiana state legislature will determine funding for theprogram, which will likely determine how long the program would last.so the question is: if elected, do you feel this program is one you would support? andif not, what would you do to help indiana veterans with disabilities get the benefitsthey need? >> david ober: again, another great question.having been in the legislature when this law
was passed, i can say that this is one ofthose things that, it was one true issue where we felt like we could actually make a differencein the lives of so many in our state. i think the intent of the law was that thiswould be some kind of a pilot program, see how this would work, get some experience,and then funnel resources if it was something that truly was going to make a dent in theproblem. if that data comes back next year, which iexpect that it will, that the program is working, that it's being well utilized, i would saythat it should be something that we invest more dollars into and fully support that.and not only support just the veterans, but also i can see this program being opened upand utilized for other groups of people that
could utilize the services, as well.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]and i believe that's thad gerardot. i'll give you time to answer the question. 30 seconds.oh, i don't think i said your district. thad gerardot, 81st district. oh, that's true.i should let you make an opening statement. three minutes for an opening statement, please.>> thad gerardot: thank you for having me today. i apologize that i'm late. unfortunately,i still work a regular job, 9 to 5, and had to stay late today.a little bit about me. i'm born and raised in fort wayne. bishop high school, ipfw andwork and live downtown. my basic philosophy isn't necessarily on the size of government;it's the effectiveness. and i think we need
to have an effective government that worksjust for the average joe, the average person. and when i talked about what i actually believein, my philosophy, i don't try to use labels because i feel labels end discussions. andtoo often we haven't come to an issue with an open mind. and i feel more and more peopleneed to shed the labels, look at common sense, and actually talk about issues. i'm a democratfrom a huge republican catholic family, so i've had a lot of discussions.[laughter] and i would like so when i describe myself,i come to the table with an open mind every time. thank you.>> doug: thank you. and your question will be on the minimum wage. the minimum wage inindiana is $7.25 an hour, the same as the
federal minimum wage. as of july 2014, indianahad a 5.9% unemployment rate. many other states, including our neighbor, ohio, had a higherminimum wage but lower unemployment. so the question is: if elected, would you supportraising indiana's minimum wage? >> thad gerardot: yes. i thought a lot aboutthis issue, actually. unfortunately, this is one of those issues that the discussionends, a lot. a lot of times extremes on both sides end the discussion with either extremeon this side saying we need a huge amount of money as minimum wage, extreme on thisside not recognizing the amount of poverty that's going on here in our own city. so wheni talk about minimum wage, i think there's actually a good compromise on this issue.in fact, i looked up, ohio does have the same
minimum wage as us, but for small businesses.companies making under $283,000 a year have the same minimum wage as indiana. it's companiesmaking over that that were at $7.80. that a bit. and in my district, we have very, verypoor neighborhoods and we have very, very wealthy neighborhoods. it's downtown all theway to dupont. so i've seen the effects of people living in poverty. and in the year2000, fort wayne had a poverty rate of 9%, people living under the poverty line. 2014,it's 23%. that's a problem. $7.25 in 2007 is not the same in 2014. weshouldn't say that is acceptable in our state. so i think a reasonable compromise would beraise the minimum wage, but i don't want to that if you're a ma and pop shop or millennialsstarting businesses, that you can't afford
we'll do an increment. states like hawaiiand maryland have an increment stage where every year it goes up just a little bit soit's not a huge shock to your business. and i think that would be a good compromise. ithink both sides would be happy about that. and it would be better for everybody.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]okay. i believe representative ober just went, so we're skipping to fred haigh? casey coxcame in. that's 85th. so not there yet. so next question is for representative fredhaigh, 84th district. and the topic is direct support professionals. direct support professionalsassist people with physical or intellectual disabilities with the development of basicliving and social skills and helping them
be integrated into their communities. in 2007,indiana launched an innovative workforce development program, the direct support professionalsproject, which allowed dsps to advance their skills and earnings through certificationat ivy tech community college. unfortunately, this program was eliminated in 2012 due tobudget cuts. if elected, would you support refunding the program? and if not, how wouldyou address the need for more dsps? >> fred haigh: i would support refunding thatprogram. the last four or five years, we have cut huge amounts from our budget, over a halfa billion dollars cut just from public education. and we're real proud now to have a $2 billionsurplus. but we've cut essential funding. a lot of people need to have some assistance.and for us as a state to assume no one needs
assistance, everyone can pull themselves upby their bootstraps, is not practical. our state does not lead the nation in helpingthe lowest of the low, and this bill would allow some people to get an education, orto get the ability, certified ability to assist others. that is worth investing in. thankyou. and representative casey cox, 85th district.first, three minutes for an opening statement, please.>> casey cox: i think we're close to 6:30, so i won't quite take three minutes. but myapologies for coming a little late, as well. when sheri contacted me about coming, i certainlywanted to do so. i was out of town and just got back in. but thank you very much for havingme.
my name is casey cox. and for the past abouta year, i represented the 85th district, which is eastern portion of fort wayne and eastallen county. i'm still continuing to learn as much as i can and take in as much as ican. i'm actually unopposed this november. but the flip side, the delight to that hasbeen that it's given me an opportunity to go to indianapolis over the summer a few timesto be able to focus on some issues of concern for me: new opportunities for entrepreneursand college costs for veterans, among many others, among a number of other bills thati've been working on. one of the great things about coming to forumslike this as well as general constituent interaction, i found, is there's so much that our leadersin government can learn from people they come
across in day to day life. i can't tell youin my short time there how many times i received a phone call, an email or a letter from someone,maybe even about an issue that i really didn't even know much about. but because of thatconcern, i was prompted to learn more about it and to do my best to be their representativeand to advocate for them. and that's really, i think, one of the great values of forumslike this. and i look forward to hanging out a little bit for the reception afterwardsand talking with you. so thank you again for >> doug: thank you. i would like you to answerat least one question since you did show up. [laughter]and the topic is: unemployment. in july of 2014, nearly 70% of the general populationwas part of the labor force, either working
or actively looking for work; however, only19.4% of people with disabilities were in the labor force. this means that not onlyare people with disabilities more likely to be unemployed, they are also more likely tobe discouraged workers, long term unemployed who become discouraged and give up activelysearching for jobs. so the question is: what can state governmentsdo to reduce this disparity? if elected, how veterans. but we also noticed that our veteranswith disabilities really were lagging in the opportunity for whether in this case it wasveterans or veterans with disabilities, or generally people with disabilities all around.and make sure that to the extent the state government can, there's a fair and level playingfield so that people are encouraged, are incentivized
to look for work opportunities and be ableto take advantage of the resources that are available to them.>> doug: thank you. [applause.]is sheri closing or am i closing? >> sheri: we can split the difference.[laughter] >> sheri: i thank you very much for coming.i think that all of the questions have been asked. if you could stay around, visit withthe various constituents that are here and talk about some of these issues in more depth,i think they would be very grateful to have those conversations with you. they are goingto be bringing in some refreshments for us here. and i just want to thank you all ofyou for coming. we really appreciate it. it
is a good forum. we'd like to meet with youon a more regular basis, for those of you who are elected for this year. thank you,all. being taped and livestreamed on the internet.so if you want to, you can go to youtube.com/fifthfreedomindiana and you can relive all of these wonderfulmemories. [laughter]enjoy the reception, everybody.
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